Chindro (also known as Stapoo or Kidi Kada) is a popular
rural game of
Indian Sub-Continent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...
. The game is played with a stone that tossed and slid on a marked off playing court. It is similar to
hopscotch
Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a ch ...
.
Description
Chindro is
game
A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...
popular in
Indian Sub-Continent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...
. Though mostly considered a
rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
game, it is frequently played in many urban areas as well. Primarily it is a favorite pastime of small and teenage girls, but young boys too can take part in it.
Equipment and setup
The game costs nothing and requires only two small things: a small piece of
chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...
or
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
is needed to draw a
playing court and a square or round piece of a flat
stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
(usually not bigger than in diameter) is used as the playing object. Most of the time an empty small tin box of a
shoe polish
Shoe polish (or boot polish) is a waxy paste, cream, or liquid that is used to polish, shine, and waterproof leather shoes or boots to extend the footwear's life and restore its appearance. Shoe polishes are distinguished by their textures, ...
is filled with
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
and is used as the playing object.
One of the participants draws a playing court on a flat surface (usually the floor of
alleys) with the help of a piece of coal or chalk. The size of the court depends upon the wishes of the participants and may thus vary greatly. For example, if all the participants agree to have a court of eight boxes each, then that constitutes the playing court.
Gameplay
Once the playing court is drawn, each participant takes turns. Initially, the player stands backwards at one side of the court and throws the stone blindly over her head so that it may land inside the farthest box of the court. If it lands successfully inside the designated box (without touching any lines) of the court, the player takes off her shoes and stands
barefoot near that piece of stone with one foot in the air. Afterwards, she pushes the stone (in a single try) to attempt to slide it into the adjoining box. If successful (once again without touching any of the lines), then the player carries on doing the same until the piece of stone is successfully out of the court and the player is back at the place from where she threw the stone. Once successfully out of the court, the player may stand on both feet.
Consequently, the player's turn prematurely ends when:
*The player can no longer stand on one foot and both feet touch the court area, or
*The stone stops on one of the lines, or
*The stone slides out of the court before it reaches the last box.
Taliban ban
During the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
's rule, many sports for girls were banned in Afghanistan, including Chindro.
See also
*
Paandi Paandi, also known as Pandi or Nondi, is a regional hopscotch game traditionally played in rural parts of India (such as Tamil Nadu), Sri Lanka and also in certain other countries with large numbers of immigrant Indians. The game is played only fo ...
References
{{Reflist
Children's games
Girls' toys and games
Indian games